Ethnography

The Institute on Asian Consumer Insight and the Nanyang Business School at NTU is pleased to offer a course on Ethnography.

Ethnography is generally defined as a mixture of methodologies, all sharing a commitment to studying communities and cultures in their natural settings through participant observation and other forms of personal data gathering. Interviews, photography and film are all part of the ethnographer‘s repertoire.

In the business world, ethnography is a popular research method in a growing number of organizations. Companies such as Intel, Kodak, Procter and Gamble, Nokia, Harley Davidson, and Microsoft have teams of ethnographers researching product design and exploring new market opportunities. Many market research firms either specialize in ethnographic work or include it among their product portfolio. Ethnographies have helped companies develop an in-depth understanding of consumer segments, create empathetic product designs, and generate insights into future consumer trends.

This class is designed to give you a hands-on experience of ethnography. You will learn essential tools such as how to develop an interview guide, interview consumers, how to observe people, and how to analyse qualitative data to design successful business strategies. We will explore a variety of ways in which understanding consumers at a deep - not superficial - level lead to successful marketing strategies.

About the Instructor

Julien Cayla is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Nanyang Business School, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian Consumer Insight (Singapore) and a Visiting Professor at Kedge Business School (France). Dr. Cayla received his PhD from the University of Colorado (Boulder, United States) where he majored in marketing and minored in cultural anthropology. His dissertation on the Indian advertising world received several national awards, including the MSI Alden Clayton Award and the Sheth Award. In his research, he tries to integrate anthropological theories and methodologies to the study of marketing in the global marketplace. His work has been published in outlets such as the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of International Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Management and International Marketing Review. He co-edited the book Inside Marketing: Practices, Ideologies, Devices at Oxford University Press, published in 2012.

About the Course Structure

As this is an elective course in the MSc (Marketing & Consumer Insight) programme, participants will be joining the MSc students and are thus expected to contribute/participate fully in the course, i.e., to attend all sessions diligently and complete all the required assignments/projects as required. This is an intensive full-time 5-day course conducted on NTU campus in Singapore. A typical day starts from 830am to 6pm incorporating seminar sessions, group discussions, experiential workshops and presentations.

At the end of the course, participants will receive a Certificate of Participation awarded by the Institute on Asian Consumer Insight and the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University.

Please note that participation in/completion of this course does not guarantee admission to the MSc (Marketing & Consumer Insight) programme or any other graduate programmes at NTU. Participants who wish to embark on a graduate programme will need to satisfy the respective programme’s admission requirements and undergo the admissions review process.

Preferred Participant Profile

This course is suited for middle- to senior-level executives in any industry who wish to truly understand their customers and adapt to fast-changing markets.

Participants should possess a bachelors’ degree with a minimum of 8 years of full-time work experience.

On-Campus Accommodation

For our foreign participants, on-campus accommodation is available at the Nanyang Executive Centre, www.ntu.edu.sg/nec. Please note that the course fee do not include accommodation and travel expenses.

Intensive and academically challenging, the programme focuses on developing the skills required to analyse, evaluate and appreciate the unique needs of Asian consumers. With an analytical, quantitative and qualitative understanding of Asian consumers, graduates of the programme will empower companies with the competitive edge in product innovation, design, branding and communications.